This post, and all future posts of this sort, is inspired by my Fluent Denglish sponsor this month, Kate of Diaries of an Essex Girl who hosts a Daily Diaries link-up each Friday. Kate, much like myself, blogs about expat life in Germany, while also sharing some killer life and blog design tips. Daily Diaries was started to take the pressure off blogging content relative to your niche, because what's a blog if we can't record our own lives? So, Daily Diaries serves the purpose of writing things down for yourself to be recorded forever in blog history.

It's also that time of the month (no, not THAT time) - time for the monthly sponsor giveaway!

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And finally, my first diary entry.

liebes Tagebuch,

People back home often inquire about what I do all day. I don't blame them. To my friends, who mostly opted for the 9-5 career path, the concept of me working 20 hours a week, mostly in the evenings, leaves a lot of theoretical free time. While I do engage in my fair share of Netflix marathons, it's weeks like this that make me wonder if there are enough hours in the day to accomplish things AND find time to enjoy yourself (because let's get real, I do have time for one or the other).

It's hard to call your life insanity when you work part-time at a bar, but that's exactly what it feels like right now. I returned to Germany via a red-eye flight out of my hometown of Houston two weeks ago. I arrived on a Wednesday afternoon at 15:00, went to work at 18:00, and stayed there until it closed at 03:30, upon which I went drinking after with my coworkers, and arrived home at 05:30. After sleeping for the better part of Thursday, I woke up, unpacked, re-packed for my next trip, and returned back to the pub for my shift, where I was until 02:00, then returned home and went to sleep. The next morning, I boarded a bus with the Freund for a 9 hour trip to Dresden. Four days there, and another 9 hour bus trip back, well... you get the picture.

Throw itinerary busy-season and my Munich apartment hunt in the mix, along with this poor neglected blog, and it seems like I never had time to recover from my best friend's wedding, the time change, and my drinking excursions in Houston, Dresden, and here in Karlsruhe. Beyond this madness, I attended my friend's live DVD recording concert, my au pair "kid's" 18th birthday party, the weekend long beer festival at the local brewery, and fought the battle of productivity a midst a heat wave in Germany.

This first Daily Diaries entry is a bit of a cheat, as I pre-wrote it because I am actually in Munich right now viewing four apartments. Fingers-crossed, thumbs tucked, whatever you do in your country, one of these works out so the apartment hunting stress is eliminated. Regardless, I know I'll be a bit stressed up until the point I'm settled in Munich, but I know how things go and somehow they always work out.

That's enough complaining about being busy liebes Tagebuch, I'm sure things will calm down next week and I'll be back to marathoning "Orange is the New Black" season 2 and "The Good Wife", also season 2. Here are some snapshots of my week.

This will be the first an last time ever that people refer to Germany as "hottest place in Europe". via @tagesschau pic.twitter.com/TSrgPu1u8k — Herr Goljadkin (@legereaude) June 10, 2014

Meanwhile, yesterday in Germany...

My friend, Ankur, and his band, Fire on Dawson, shooting their live DVD concert.

My boss gave me three knock-off, 2010 German World Cup jerseys for the upcoming events. Although I'll be working most of the games, I'm still looking very forward to the madness, especially the Germany-US game on June 26!

Marvin was 15 when I began my au pair year. On Saturday, we celebrated his 18th birthday with some legal cocktails! How time flies...

So, friends and family, do not fret, or be too envious, I do have plenty of obligations to make sure life isn't fun 100 percent of the time ;) .

What'd you get into this week?